Memorial Day 'n' Stuff

We didn't have any big plans for Memorial Day, so we ended up getting lucky when the Gees invited us over to eat. We're so thankful for great friends. They pulled out the slip and slide for the kids. Tessa loved it, but she was a little more timid about the diving onto the slide part. Jake has an awesome video of her trotting up to the pool and then slipping on her rear. I'll have to see what I can do about getting that on here. :)
I asked Tessa and Nate to pull a face for me. This is what I got:
My fault for asking.
They were way to busy having fun and Landon had already taken off by this point.

Cole and Carter are a little easier to catch in action.


We are in the full swing of summer heat. Our AC broke down (yes, again), but we were able to get it fixed once and for all from a new company. I think. I hope. Jake's car broke down too, but once again, we're happy we have a mechanic that we trust, and now it's back on the road. Unexpected, but we're grateful we could get both taken care of.

Tessa says the funniest things --I know most kids her age do, but it's a lot of fun. She has taken to using the word "certainly" in the strangest ways. "Certainly I am excited to see grandma!" The other day she pointed to an item in a catalog and told me, "I want that, and I can prove it." Can you really? She's already looking forward to December 3rd, her birthday. Apparently every major party is supposed to take place on that date. I forget she's only three sometimes. She's got a great sense of humor and really is a good helper. Her made up songs and stories are the best. She is tenderhearted and loves to talk. I love hearing her play and laugh with Cole. I much prefer that then when she's running off with his toys to get him to slither after her.

Cole is long and wiggly and affectionate, too. Tessa ran into the wall yesterday (we're a clumsy lot) and I sat on the floor with her on my lap while she cried. Cole wriggled on over to us so he could pat his sister on the back. He adores her. What a happy kid. He eats and eats and eats, but he's still a string bean. He blows kisses, gives 5, shakes his head no (for a laugh, not because he necessarily gets what means), claps his hands, sticks his feet in your face and thinks it's funny, is lightening quick when grabbing something he wants from you, and my favorite, tries to say "tickle". I'm counting it as his first word. He'll wiggle his fingers on you and try his best to imitate the word by flipping his tongue in and out of his mouth.

I took the kids to pick blackberries at the Merry Berry Farm yesterday while Jake was at work. I look like I fought a couple feral cats on my right arm. One time a year am I willing to stick my arm in thorny bushes where all kinds of hoppy and crawly things lurk. That would be blackberry picking time. The desire for freezer jam trumps the discomfort.

We tried to meet Jake after work for dinner since it was getting late. We tried to meet at a Quiznos, but when we got there, the place was boarded up and shut down. There was a burger place a few doors down, and, well, we were hungry. It was called JG's Old Fashioned Hamburgers or something like that --off of Greenville. Yum. All you Dallasites -yum. Go there sometime. Fun ambiance (like a mom and pop's in the middle of the city), reasonable prices, great burgers, and a chocolate milkshake I would stab someone in the face for. Okay, not really. But close. It was that good.